False Insanity: B
by GeneralMajorLieutenant
Summary: *Yaoi, KaZe* He was placed in a mental institution instead of Cross Academy after the vampire attack that killed his family. No one believed him so he learned not to tell his horrifying story until his new therapist, Kaname Kuran, stepped in. A man he thought he might be able to trust until Kaname's real nature was exposed. How will he cope with this after his promise? *Rewrite*
1. Chapter 1

A/N- This is a _rewritten version _(I've labeled the first False Insanity: A) If you've read False Insanity: A, and you're worried this one will be just like that one and you will ultimately be reading the same story... DON'T BE. I went very wrong with the first, and I'm planning on exercising the right with this :3

This is a KaZe and Rido/Ichiru story (I AM NOW DUBBING THEM RICHIRU) Richiru (;}) won't occur for a very long time (and I do mean very; Zero isn't going to spend three chapters in the hospital; he's spending A LOT of chapters in the hospital... Hopefully?), and when _Richiru _(AhhhhHHH I lOvE it) does occur, it will be minimal and Ichiru is going to be the kickass sick fuck like I love him to be -3- Rido won't know what's hit him by the last chapter.

Please enjoy, and dropping a review my way would be very much appreciated ^^ (Let's make a goal: Reviewers 1-10 get a brownie and a gold star ;3 Be some good noodles, make SpongeBob proud!)

* * *

Something went wrong, Zero thought as he was practically carried down a sterile white hallway. Something went very, _very_, wrong during his therapy session with Yuki Cross. He couldn't remember what, though, and that bothered him.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much Zero _could_ do about it. Irrational fear and his inner demons had control; all he could do was sit back and watch through cloudy windows. If he was screaming, he wasn't aware. If he was fighting or resisting, he'd feel it soon enough. When the adrenaline wore off, the telltale aches and pains would confirm any attempts at resistance.

He hated the way things sounded and felt when he relapsed. How everything seemed heavier and thicker, but another part of him loved giving up this control. Zero didn't have to worry when demons did the work for him, and the consequences for patients who acted out were far from severe.

A day or two in isolation, maybe a session with Doctor Kuran... The session seemed more promising then being holed up in another empty white room, though, despite the chill that settled at the thought.

"... so much trouble..."

Zero gasped as a newer, deeper, voice sliced through his thoughts, completely lacking the frenzied emotion in the nurses who held him. Seconds later the sharp sting of a needle sprang from his arm, leaving Zero tense as he waited for the inevitable knockout.

Instead, he collapsed against the nurse who had the strongest grip, but never sank into what a normal sedative threw at him. Zero felt the sting in his arm more clearly, however, as he sank back into his body. It ached of course, resisting guards and nurses could do that to a guy, and he would no doubt have bruises around his biceps and waist.

"Was anyone there when _this _happened?"

_Kuran... _

Zero almost groaned when he met the familiar mismatched gaze. He liked the brown eye more, he decided a bit lazily. The blue one was too cold for his liking.

And, sometimes, that brown eye would melt into a deeper crimson, which, however unlikely as that actually was, never failed to keep Zero focused and alert as he waited for it.

Despite his interest in the brunette's eyes, Zero absolutely hated the man. The way he studied him sometimes, with cold, clinical, interest, and the slightly sadistic streak he had noticed on more than one occasion made his lip curl in distaste and his skin crawl. Then again, every employee in the institution made Zero sick; they were all unprofessional, as if they hardly knew what they were doing, and if they didn't _fear _the patients, they mistreated them.

Yuki had been Zero's only therapist who hadn't fallen into either one of those categories, but he knew, just by the look on the doctor's face, he had blown any chances of future sessions with her.

Zero accepted this fact easily enough; as a high maintenance patient, he didn't have much of a voice when the good doctors made their decision.

He really wished he had one when he was left in Rido Kuran's hands. He watched his previous nurses walk away and disappear around a corner, taking with them his security blanket.

"What have you done this time, Zero?" the older man asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Zero replied a bit dryly, wincing when cold fingers wrapped around his upper arm and steered him towards a very familiar door. Whatever had been pumped into his arm wouldn't allow him to keep Rido's pace, however, so he ended up stumbling twice and weaving dangerously in his given space.

He felt a bit dizzy and very much in his own skin, leaving him longing for his previous detachment.

"I'm growing tired of these visits," Rido snapped as he released Zero to unlock the heavy door. Unlike the other doors in the hallway, which were either stainless steel and locked with a keypad or the classic wood of a therapist or guard, Rido's door was very thick and liberally padded.

Zero was sure it was soundproof, too. If a patient lost it in Rido's room and tried to run to the door, it would hurt and the resounding thud wouldn't be heard on the other side.

He cringed at the memory.

"Scold me for my poor behavior then send me off then," Zero muttered after following Rido in and trying to ignore the final click of the door. He wasn't entirely sure if it had been locked or not, and never had been. The initial sound of the door closing could easily hide another click of a lock.

The amused glance Rido threw at him squelched the idea of a lecture, and sent waves of anxiety through his body.

There were few ways Zero could get out of this, and little he could use as a weapon, as futile as that would be, around Rido's work space. There were just two chairs seated in front of a desk, and to the right, behind a screen that was usually in place if Rido ever had meetings, was his equipment.

Zero shuddered and shoved those thoughts as far away as he could. Panicking would give Rido a reason to reacquaint him to his practice.

"Please, sit," Rido practically purred as he took a seat on his desk. He stretched his legs towards the chair on the left, so Zero promptly took a seat on the right. Nothing like good old fashioned teenage rebellion, as the say. And there's only so many things a psychotic patient can do to achieve that.

Zero shut his eyes and prayed pointlessly when Rido tied his wavy hair back. _Not _a good sign, and the man's deliberate actions all pointed towards Zero's immediate future on the right side of the room.

"Did you take your medication today, Zero?"

He cringed but nodded. The routine questions were as bad a sign as any. Certain procedures had to be followed before electrotherapy, probing, or any method for that matter. But Rido wasn't going to determine if he needed different medications or a different dosage, he was going to dig for answers Zero had shut out deliberately.

After all, Creedmore Institute wasn't exactly known for it's pristine treatment and handling of its patients. The small and scattered scars on his head were ports; protecting the holes in his skull necessary to allow a DBS. He may not have been to other hospitals, but he was pretty sure sticking wires into a patient's head for "research," without their consent, was illegal.

"Have you eaten today?"

Zero wondered if 'no' would bring a different result. He had always said yes in the past, and had always ended up snugly strapped to a padded table. If he said no would Rido be deterred or would he be forced to eat? Would he even be believed?

When he opened his eyes to respond, he knew his hesitation had simply given Rido the same answer as always.

"_Don't_," Zero hissed under his breath, hating the way he sounded; needy and desperate and _scared_.

Rido simply frowned and thought over his plea. "Do you know exactly _why _you lapsed with Doctor Cross?" he asked.

Zero nodded on impulse. It wouldn't be hard to make something up, and he could do it with ease. "Just an attack," he replied quickly, desperate to get out of the stuffy room and far away from the electrodes.

"Do you know _why _you had an attack?"

_Vampires, he wants to know about the vampires_, Zero thought, but kept this knowledge under wraps. As far as _everyone _in the damned institute knew, Zero had long since given up on that "fabricated memory." He was crazy, vampires didn't exist, and if that got him closer to escaping the sterile Hell he lived in, he'd believe it, too.

"Jane, she... She said something about my medicine the other day. About how it may not be strong enough... Yuki- Er, Doctor Cross... Her books weren't aligned correctly, either..." Zero mumbled as he met Rido's harsh gaze. "You can call her down, she'll tell you," he pressed. It wasn't a lie, but if Rido wanted to strap him down and zap him into oblivion, he would. There wasn't a single nurse, doctor, or guard that would dare argue with Rido Kuran.

Yuki would though. And if it meant lying about book placement, a horribly important thing to Zero, then she would.

But _Jane_ fell heavily into the category that feared patients like Zero. He could tell; the way she always watched him and visibly shook when she brought him his medication for the day, or when she escorted him to the cafeteria for his meals. She always insisted that he needed more medication, always a higher dose, anything to knock him out.

Zero didn't blame her. While he hated what the medication did to his body, the way it could make him feel, without it he was a violent basket case.

Either way, the excuse seemed to drain Rido's energy, and with a sigh he pressed a small red button on the edge of his desk. Zero relaxed for a moment then, relief washing over him like a wave.

"I'll be having a talk with Jane later," Rido mumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Zero was far too happy to be excused to even worry about how that conversation would go. Not very well, he predicted, but he had just bought himself maybe one more day of peace and silence.

* * *

Once security shut the door to his room, Zero got to work. He started from the left, checking his small bookshelf for any books out of order or if they were more or less than four inches away from the edge. Jane must have been on duty, because his bed sheets had been left folded neatly on the dresser by his small bed, his own responsibility to take care of.

There hadn't been a nurse stupid enough to make his bed for him since his third year, when he'd started developing the meticulous habits. Zero believed it was part of the contract; don't touch the bed sheets unless you're washing them.

Zero didn't even want them washed by someone else, but he had been forced to accept the fact that he didn't have the leeway to do his own laundry. He had to settle with making the bed himself.

And so he did; crisp corners and straight edges.

As he moved to the adjacent bathroom, he paused and took a deep breath before entering. Jane could never get his medication in the right order, and she didn't bother to measure the distance between each bottle.

Ignoring his reflection in the mirror, he opened the medicine cabinet and began to mechanically arrange the bottles. Starting from the bottom, the six bottles he had went in alphabetical order, each spaced four inches apart.

It wasn't that hard, but Jane would never give into one of his many quirks. Zero believed she did it on purpose just to get to him, to prevent him from getting truly better.

As if manifested by thought, his door creaked open and the nurse walked in with a tray of food he'd never be able to stomach. As Zero wandered back into his room, Jane sat it on the bed and edged towards the door.

"You're like a dog," he snapped while glaring at the food. Jane started but said nothing, only offering a grim smile. A smile that screamed "what are you gonna do about it?" His fingers itched to get around her neck and show her exactly what he wanted to do about it. "You do something wrong then shy away, ashamed..." he mumbled.

"I'm not the one sedated and shoved into isolation every other week," Jane countered coolly, her smile cold as ice.

Zero growled, but choked on the sound in surprise and covered his mouth with a gasp.

Jane's face mimicked his horror, and she was out of the room in a heartbeat, door slamming behind her.

_I just _growled, he thought to himself, heart pounding away against his ribs.

The worst part of this was the inevitable appointment he'd be having with Rido. Fingering the scar over his temple, he shuddered and for once Zero was able to ignore the misplaced food tray for longer than four seconds. Thanks to Jane, by tomorrow afternoon he'd have wires coming out of his brain and electrodes taped all over his body.

Not to mention a totally new therapist with totally different ways. He'd had several before, but Yuki was the only one who had even attempted to make her office, his environment, more comfortable for him. He doubted he'd have another therapist like her again.

With an enraged scream, Zero hurled the tray of food across his pristine room, stomach churning and vision blurring. His blood roared in his ears and panic clouded his judgement.

He couldn't handle Rido.

He couldn't handle a new therapist.

He needed order and control.

His books, his bed, and his medicine gave him that, but even Jane had taken that away from him.

_Vampires _had taken that away from him. They'd taken _everything_ away from him.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- A lot of people are asking me _why _I'm rewriting this story, so I guess I just forgot to go over it properly in A ^^"

I'm rewriting this story for a lot of reasons that add up to 3 main reasons: my age, my writing, and the plot.

I'm pretty sure I was 14 or I was a month or two away from turning 14 when I started writing False Insanity. In other words, my early FF days, which then means; I was cocky as Hell and thought my writing was the absolute shit. I didn't totally _understand _the purpose I had when I was writing, and I was constantly looking forward to the smut... Which, now that I'm older, I understand I'm not that into writing anymore- there are better ways to go about it (NOT that I'm not throwing in some smut in this, I am, just not as I did when I was starting out :3 The sex will have a different meaning than it did before... At least, I'll try for that)

Now, I'm much more humble than I was as a youngster, and I understand my faults as a writer, so I'd like to work on them :)

My writing has also changed, in my opinion. Compared to my Kuro fics (which, btw, I've deleted) and the way I went about my VK fics, I feel like I've matured a bit, and I have a new understanding of what plots are and how I need to go about writing them.

My plot in FI:A was like a... quilt, so to speak. It was patched together and all over the place, and I rushed through things to get to the smut. That's not what I'm about now, so I'd like to draw more attention to the build up; to Zero's progress from a mental patient to a strong, independent, vampire capable of defending himself. And especially his relationships with everyone else.

Also, on a lighter note, I think I have my update days for this story, and Can You Still Feel?, sometime in the middle of the week of the middle of every month (HAAAA) starting next month, so you can expect monthly updates and not sporadic ones :) I'm really trying guys!

I hope this clears the confusion up a bit, and you guys continue to enjoy the rewrite :D

* * *

"Take a deep breath_, _Zero_..._"_  
_

_Breathe? _he wondered, the advice momentarily stunting his panic and fear with confusion. How could he take a deep breath when he couldn't even breathe? The strap around his midsection was enough to halt any breathing, not including the panic attack he was silently suffering through.

"Zero, if you don't prepare yourself, this is going to hurt," his nurse chided, holding up the sharp and slender probe to emphasize his words.

Zero shuddered, unable to voice his pleas or fears, only able to stare helplessly at the man above him. Rido would be in any second to put that _thing _into his brain, but if he could just convince the nurse...

A soft sigh was all he needed to understand there wasn't an escape.

"Think of it this way," the man started, moving swiftly and efficiently as he picked up a syringe and filled it. "You'll be totally out of it and totally happy when you meet your knew therapist."

He whimpered when his nurse slid the needle into his elbow, adding yet another scar to the hundreds of others. But sure enough, his body began to numb, tingling slightly where the syringe had entered, and he felt himself begin to shut down. Everything would be fine, he realized, even smiling at his now confident nurse and shifting slightly under his restraints.

One at each wrist, his stomach, thighs, calves, and ankles... Securely bound, for whatever reason... Zero didn't know, he wasn't dangerous...

He giggled when he felt warm fingers rub chilly gel onto his chest and neck. The electrodes followed, sticking to his skin firmly and easily.

"Rido will cover the ports," the man told him, useless as it was.

Zero snapped his teeth at the man, giggling when he made him jump slightly. "Tell that bastard he won't get anything... "

"I beg to differ." Rido's smooth voice floated into the room, and with a cold glare he sent the nurse on his way before starting towards Zero. "I'll be inducing a seizure or two, then measuring your brain activity after a series of phrases."

Zero snorted. "Would any of them have to do with _vampires_?" he leered, smiling up at the man as he picked up the thin wires and coated them generously with the same gel. He frowned then and jerked slightly against his restraints. "_No_..." Zero stressed, snapping his head to the side when Rido advanced with the one thing that could destroy his high.

"Unfortunately, it seems you've been _growling _and _snapping _at people..." Rido hummed softly as he gripped Zero's jaw and forced his head forward again. "One could only assume you're so caught up in this vampire delusion of yours... That you're becoming one yourself..."

With that, Rido shoved the small probe through his temple, sending pinpoints of pain so strong throughout Zero he couldn't even find his voice to scream. Quivering in his restraints, and biting his cheek til it bled, Zero forced himself to breathe, and to focus on the brunet as the object made it's way into his brain. After what felt like ages, Rido finally smiled before turning to a small computer and quickly entering a serious of numbers.

Short but powerful bursts of electricity went straight through him afterwards, not so painful now that he couldn't scream, but painful enough that he could really let loose.

At least, he noted, his screams brought Rido some amount of discomfort. If only for a short period of time before he succumbed to searing pain and passed out.

This happened several times, and each time Rido grew increasingly frustrated as his efforts turned out to be in vain. Either broken or still capable of retaining faulty memories, Zero was released under the impression that he didn't, in fact, believe vampires murdered his family. A belief he had learned to let go of in front of others years prior.

Not that Rido was letting it go, of course.

Body aching, Rido and three other nurses pulled him off of the table. He bit down on a soft cry as fingers dug into his sensitive skin, and a rough cloth wiped off the excess gel. Soon enough, however, he was thrown into a pair of cotton clothes and forced screaming into a straight jacket.

He glared at Rido, swore and cursed him, until the door was slammed in his face and he was led down the same sterile white hallway.

Turning to the nurse he hoped had been the one to administer the drugs, he snarled, "Not so fucking happy now, huh?"

Zero found himself ignored in response, although the man did tense a bit uncomfortably. Laughing softly, he snapped his teeth several more times, enjoying the way the nurse shied away.

"Ignore this freak," one of the other men snorted, jerking his arm to stop him. "He'll be Kuran's problem soon enough."

"I'm _always _Kuran's problem," he purred while throwing himself into the guard who had spoken. He smiled up at the disgusted man and bared his teeth cheerfully. "He thinks I'm a vamp... Vampire." Zero struggled to speak over his own amusement, and the way his mind was once again slowing down.

He realized a needle had been pushed into his shoulder, but he could hardly bring himself to care. The pricks of a syringe were nothing new, in fact, he was surprised he had noticed it this time. Usually sedatives went under his radar.

"Yeah, well, that's not our problem," the guard growled as they slipped into an elevator.

They let him go, trusting the sedatives to work, and they did. He stumbled against one of the cool walls but leered at them nonetheless.

"It will be, because if I am," he began softly, waiting until he had their halfhearted attention. "Then I'll rip you all to fucking shreds. Every single one of you," he growled.

"Jim..." one of the nurses mumbled. She tugged on the guards sleeve and cast a worried glance towards Zero.

He loved it, in a subtle kind of way.

"Don't worry about him. Can't do any harm with the way Rido did him in," the man assured her. "He'll be feeling it tomorrow no doubt. Probably killed a few more brain cells, too."

Zero didn't feel anything at all just then. Sort of tingly, sort of numb, but invincible. Like he could take on an entire army and come out unscathed.

Locking his eyes on the worried nurse, he smiled a bit softer and shrugged. "I'll come for you first, sweetheart."

"_Jim!_" she hissed, even pressing closer to him, alarmed and startled.

_Jim _grabbed his arm again and shoved him out of the elevator, almost making him lose his balance as he stumbled. Balance, he had learned, was a hard thing to find when you had your arms bound and crossed so tightly he believed they'd be another thing he wouldn't feel for a few days.

He was slurring and blabbering incoherently by the time he was brought to a very familiar wooden door, yet horribly alien at the same time. No longer was there a plaque that read "Yuki Cross." A simple number hung from it now, waiting to be named and labeled by his new therapist.

"Freak," was muttered yet again when he whined, digging his heels into tiled floor as Jim opened the door and snapped his greeting.

His new therapist was at the door in a heartbeat, concern and anger written clear on his features. Of course, the clear resemblance to Rido only had another keen escaping Zero, and fighting against the two men who held him.

_Definite relation_, Zero decided as he took in the familiar bone structure. The only differences between this man and Rido, however, were their eyes and hair. Straight brown hair that had been tied back as opposed to Rido's wavy locks, and matching brown eyes opposite Rido's mismatched. Yet, while Rido's were cold and calculating, this man's eyes were totally absorbent. Intent on what was before him and angry due to it as well.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" His voice was low and sharp, but hardly directed at Zero.

Jim snorted. "Dropping off your first project. Can't handle it, Mr. Pretentious?"

It was a well known fact most guards took issue with the therapists. The guards were mere brutes; all brawn and very little brain, simply kept to keep patients from escaping. But the doctors were just as bad- far too brainy to even be seen _looking _at anyone else.

This man, however, wasn't above either. He had a glare, so cold it even stilled Zero's drugged movements, fixed on Jim one second and was crowding his space in the next. He went as far as to even dig his fingers into the guard's jaw, nails no doubt biting the skin.

"If I find that you've been handling this boy so roughly again I'll have your job flushed down the drain and a night stick shoved so far up your ass you won't be able to think straight," he promised, eyes flaring angrily before he shoved the guard's face to the side and gestured down the hall. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. _Go_."

Zero didn't think he'd ever seen nurses and guards alike scrambling to get away from a therapist, but he wasn't ready to question it. Instead, he found himself wishing he could follow... Until Kaname snapped to draw his attention to what he was about to do.

And, surprisingly, Zero found himself free of the straight jacket and in a warm room.

A hazy glance around the room and Zero decided there was a lot that needed to be fixed, but the atmosphere overall was reassuring and inviting. There was a pleasant contrast of mahogany and cream colored furniture, and the lamps scattered around the room offered enough light to see comfortably without strain. The curtains, a rich crimson, were drawn, casting boxes of unpacked items into shadow.

He had to admit, it was so much easier on sensitive eyes than Yuki's room had ever been.

Stumbling slightly as he turned to face his new therapist, he pointed out, "I could snap and attack you."

"You won't."

"You seem so sure of that."

"I am."

The confident attitude irked Zero, but he didn't make any other attempts to speak. Instead, he sized the man up in the same way he was.

"You've been tortured and sedated," the man pointed out softly, his interest genuine but no less demeaning. "If you were to attack me, I'm absolutely positive I could hold my own. Now, please, sit down before you fall down," he elaborated with a gesture at one of the leather armchairs.

Zero carefully made his way to the chair and shook off the helping hand when his vision swayed. He had never been so relieved to make it to a single chair on his own before. He'd never had reason to, though.

Kaname sat on his desk, eyeing Zero calmly and curiously. "I believe it's completely ridiculous that they're giving you to me for a session after what you've just gone through. If they think drugging you will make picking your brain apart any easier, they're wrong and that's not why I'm here."

Zero rubbed his eyes, truly trying his hardest to focus and understanding that what this man said was really important, but he was tired... And there were _five _lamps in the room... The plaque on his desk, reading _Kaname Kuran_, was also _five_ inches away from the edge... And it was _off_ _center_.

Meeting those rather smug brown eyes displayed that Kaname understood what he was thinking, and that the lamps and plaque had been deliberate.

_Damned shrink..._

Zero took a deep breath, and just to spite the arrogant bastard, he let it go. _Tried _to let it go, that is. It wasn't his room after all, he could deal with it... He could definitely... hopefully... deal with it.

"You can just relax for the next hour or so, Zero," Kaname assured him quietly, and with a smile that did little to set him at ease. He couldn't trust a therapist, he could only trust Yuki...

But the more Kaname spoke and acted, the harder that was to believe. He didn't seem to be out for him, or hellbent on hurting him... Unless Zero could count the purposely placed lamps and plaque... Which he definitely did.

"I have things to unpack, things to settle. I don't have the time, energy, or will to take advantage of an abused patient," he promised as he stood and busied himself with the neatly stacked boxes.

Zero was only able to watch him for several more minutes before he fell into a restless sleep. Aware yet not totally understanding of his surroundings, he twitched and occasionally convulsed until a slightly chilled hand would fall on his shoulder or head, a fleeting touch that stilled and calmed him nonetheless.

Something about this man inspired trust, a reward Zero hadn't granted anyone since before the _attack._


	3. Chapter 3

A/N- I'm sorry about the slow updates... I have a schedule and everything but I've kind of dropped it for the past month and a half xc I think I'd like to blame my computer for this, though- I absolutely hate the damn thing (I have named the computer Absolute Piece of Shit 1GB 9000) and I'm counting the days 'til Christmas xD

Update: The Absolute Piece of Shit 1GB 9000 crashed a few weeks ago. I got a new, sleek, fab-o computer -3-

I am also very sorry for this ridiculously short story, I just have so many fics to update I'm rushing on catch up. I'll slow down and breathe a bit later x3

* * *

Zero was absolutely furious by the time his fifth therapy session rolled around. Two had been just enough to figure out Kaname had done his research and knew what would safely set Zero off, but waking up to find his own room trifled with was a line the doctor had no leeway to cross. It was one thing to set books or pictures or pencils three and a half inches away from the edge of a shelf in a space that didn't belong to Zero, it was another entirely to mess with his own.

He had come back from breakfast to discover his bed had been turned at a forty-five degree angle, no longer facing the door directly. His books were no longer alphabetized, his medicine had been rearranged, he was even _missing _a few bottles, he hadn't made his own bed, and he was almost positive that was a layer of dust on his dresser.

Zero hadn't been given time to right the wrongs before security had come and whisked him away to face the bastard who had caused the mess.

He did his best to piss off his escorts in the elevator, but for all his attempts he might as well have been invisible. Either they had learned or they had been warned.

Zero picked at his nails after the elevator proved just as futile as the walk, and he glared at Kaname's door until it opened. Stomping away from the guards, Zero made his way into an hour of Hell. If they weren't arguing, he wasn't talking, and Kaname seemed perfectly content to stare right back at him in the very same stubborn silence.

"No trouble today?" Kaname asked, nonchalant, as soon as he closed the door. It was more than irritating, the easy way he fished around for information he already knew.

"Nothing much... I'd just like to know why I'm missing four of my prescriptions," Zero snapped, glaring at his therapist as the man settled down at his desk.

"Because you don't need them," Kaname answered with ease. His gaze was steady and strong, not an ounce of defiance or malice to be found in the dark pools. "Three of them dulled your senses and stunted receptors. The fourth- Zero, anti-anxiety? Really?" the older man asked, disbelief lacing his last words.

"I don't understand why you care," Zero hissed, his fingers digging into the faux leather of his chair. He hoped he'd somehow rip it, ruin it in someway, just so he could ruin Kaname's flawless office.

He wanted Kuran _out_. He wanted those drugs to keep him detached, he'd never make it through the hospital without them. And as much as he wanted to leave, a part of him argued that desire fiercely; he didn't have anywhere to go, he wasn't socialized. He wouldn't know how to function out in the real world. No one would higher a guy straight out of a crazy house.

Here he had food, he had a bed, he had a _place_. And as much as he hated it, it beat living out in the streets, open to attack. At least here the abuse was predictable, outside...

Zero realized he had begun to shake and quickly tensed, determined to stop it.

"Because I need you out of here, Zero. And that won't happen if you're on any meds, definitely not several of them," Kaname sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He added a bit softer, a bit too sincerely this time, as if it were confidential, "And because I realize that's not possible, that some of the drugs you're taking have rewired your brain, I'm going to get you off of the others."

Zero's glare faltered and he stared at the brunet in shock. No way was Kaname planning on busting him out of here, legally or otherwise. And at this very moment, it sounded like he was going for that otherwise.

"Now, Zero... This time, I'd like you to tell me about those vampires."

He stared at Kaname for a long time, searching for any signs of amusement or doubt. He saw nothing but sincerity and patience, of course, but at the moment his anger was beginning to die down while his thoughts were continuing their ridiculous jump around. Nothing to calm them down, or to keep them in line, and for once Zero was forced to do it himself. For once, Zero was being forced to look them straight on.

He didn't know how to do it himself.

He wanted them off of his chest, and it was strange how a patient expression and a simple request could draw that desire from him.

"You can't tell Rido," he whispered. "You cannot tell him."

"I wouldn't," Kaname promised, his words sharp and final. A promise, and one Zero was ready to believe.

Still, Zero said nothing. For nearly fifteen minutes they stared at each other in silence, Zero struggling to remember something, but shying away from anything he did. He also didn't want to tell Kaname, he didn't want to tell _anyone _but he had to tell _someone_.

Zero just didn't have anyone.

"How about I run through the story your other doctors put together, and you just tell me what's right and what's wrong," Kaname offered before he began to shuffle through a drawer in his desk. Dropping a single, rather thick, file on the surface of his desk then resting his hand on it, he said, "Whether you like it or not, _this_ is why you're in this hospital, Zero. _This _is what I've been hired and trusted to help you work through. It's not something we can pretend doesn't exist."

"The vampires are wrong," Zero said automatically, staring at the file with a deep rooted hatred. "They told me the vampires were just the men who attacked my family. They told me vampires aren't real. They told me that I was too young to understand, that my brain warped the men into something fantastical."

Kaname nodded then rested his chin on his hand. "And what do you say?"

He looked from the file to Kaname, then cringed when his neck began to burn. A light sting that grew in intensity for a moment, then vanished the second his fingers brushed over the skin.

"I say they're right," he answered weakly. That was the logical answer, the reasonable answer and belief that had been pounded into his head since he was twelve. That was the answer that passed in this world.

That was the answer that disappointed Kaname so strongly it actually showed.

"Zero, I won't tell you you're wrong," the brunet assured him softly.

Zero's smile was bitter. "Then you're as delusional as a ten year old who witnessed his family getting slaughtered."

"Unfortunately, when I look through your sessions regarding this experience, your responses are consistent and strong. You're not pushing the matter, you never waver... And then a new doctor assigned when you were fourteen, suddenly you're story has conformed..."

"So?"

"So, if the memory at all had carried any exaggerations, you wouldn't have been consistent for two years, and pieces of your story would have gradually been dropped and replaced," Kaname explained. "It wouldn't have changed overnight."

Kaname stood from his chair and moved around the desk to come to a complete stop in front of Zero, who sat shocked and felt a bit cornered. Reaching out to tug on a few strands of hair, he said, "Think about your old story, Zero. Then tell me what _you _think. I'll be by to check on you either tonight or tomorrow night to see how you're reacting to the absence of your meds."

With that, Zero was dismissed, left to his own devices in an altered room for the rest of the day. Strangely enough, when he was left in his room, he felt no desire to fix his things. He was simply tired, and scared of what he might rediscover if he thought too hard.

Only, Zero knew what he would find. He had never lost it in the first place, he had simply taken to ignoring it because it had caused irrational fear and paranoia, and undeniable rage. It made him want to runaway, and hunt down the monsters who killed his family. Lock them in a house and burn it down, just like they did to his parents, and nearly him.

If it hadn't been for that one...

A hiss escaped him as his neck began to sting dully once more, more annoying than painful, however. Like a bee sting, maybe, but a little worse. Even his mouth began to throb, especially his gums, but he gave neither a second thought as he collapsed into his bed and curled up.

When Jane brought his food in, he ignored both. Several minutes later, however, the smell got to him, making his stomach churn and knot, so he flushed what he could down the toilet before settling down again. A symptom of his absent medications, of course.

Zero didn't get much sleep that night. He either woke up in a cold sweat, believing he was about to be ripped apart by the bloodthirsty vampire in his dream, or he lay awake shuddering and imagining things in the shadows. Sometimes he stomach would cramp so badly he felt like someone was stirring up his insides with a knife. It was during those moments he'd cry out for Kaname, nearly reduced to tears, and unashamed to scream to the entire hospital that he needed help.

Zero didn't really understand why he thought Kaname could help, but when a guard let the older man in after several hours of his screaming he nearly sobbed, relieved and soothed by the way Kaname's hand fell to his forehead.

"I need the meds back," he begged, voice hoarse from his screaming, and he reached out to grab a fistful of the man's shirt.

Kaname smelled good, he noted distantly. Like honey and cinnamon, and something a bit darker. He tugged at the shirt a bit more desperately, even letting out a choked cry as his head began to pound.

"You don't need the medication, Zero. You need to relax and sleep, do so now," Kaname murmured, lightly brushing silver strands out of Zero's face with a few flicks of his wrist.

Anger began to mix with his frenzied desperation and he shook his head. "_I can't_," he stressed. "The nightmares-"

"Tell me about them tomorrow, now _sleep_," Kaname all but growled, his voice low and almost sinister. "The pain will go away if you sleep," Kaname added softly, as if to regain some composure this nighttime disturbance had taken away from him.

Zero was out before Kaname had even left the room, sinking into sleep filled with nightmares he couldn't wake up from this time.


End file.
